Lifestyle Hacks

If you’re anything like most people, chances are there are times when you feel not as confident as you should in certain situations. It could be when you’re meeting new people, delivering a presentation during a staff meeting or perhaps when you’re trying to seal the deal in a sales pitch.

What’s really interesting is there are simple tricks you can use to boost your confidence levels. And if you’re looking to take your self-esteem to a whole new level and do away with shyness, make sure you follow along to find out what they are.

Nurture a more confident attitude.

Now while this may sound rather simplistic, most people tend to have low self-esteem because they hinder themselves to be so. Instead of allowing themselves to overcome their shyness, they choose to stay the same for fear of being reprimanded or experiencing humiliating consequences.

Make it a habit to be as confident as you can every day. There are no-fuss ways that you can practice this. Besides greeting the people you meet when you walk on the street, engaging a discussion with the person you’re sharing a park bench or train seat with is also a nice way to get this step in action.

Establish relationships with confident people.

Have you heard of the maxim, “birds of the same feather flock together?” Well, that is another way to jumpstart your confidence levels. Keep in mind to establish personal relationships with people who are inherently confident so you can develop a similar mindset and attitude as them.

Apart from helping reinforce your overall confidence, these people can also guide you back on the right track if you’re giving in to your shyness, especially in terms of learning how to accept rejection and similar situations that can potentially put a dent on your self-esteem.

Give yourself the acknowledgment you deserve.

Most people who have low self-esteem may have developed this issue during their younger years. It is possible that this problem could have stemmed from the environment they were living in or perhaps the rearing of their parents as well as other authority figures.

A simple trick to do away with these negative vibes that make your confidence levels dwindle is to set a quiet time each day or night. While you’re at it, sit or stand in front of a mirror and acknowledge the achievements that you’ve managed to do on that day.

It doesn’t matter if your achievement is big or small. Whether you finished a project ahead of time or took out trash, acknowledge yourself and make yourself feel accepted and recognized. You’ll notice that your confidence levels will rise if you do this in a regular basis.

Keeping extra weight off can be a very tricky affair. It’s a problem so common these days that it has already spurned countless quick fixes that can be anything from dieting hacks to detoxification guides. And since this issue is so rampant, more and more of these quick fixes are still being released to the public until now.

However, a study recently published in the American Journal of Physiology points out that high-intensity interval training or HIIT could be the solution to do away with excess pounds once and for all. HIIT is basically a type of training where a particular activity like a short sprint is performed to the point of exhaustion.

After that, it is followed by two to four minutes of rest or “active recovery period” in technical terms, and then the whole process is repeated all over. According to the study published in the American Journal of Physiology, the same amount of calories is burned during a 20-minute HIIT workout as compared to a full hour of exercise done in moderate intensity.

The researchers of the study emphasized that what makes HIIT really innovative compared to common weight loss quick fixes like low-calorie diets is its simplicity to integrate in a long-term plan. The most common effect of being in a low-calorie diet is a persistent change in mood due to the drop in blood sugar levels as well as hormonal swings.

The constant fluctuations in blood sugar levels also put you in a perpetual grudge match against your willpower, which could lead to an unexpected halt in your journey to keeping excess pounds off. If you’ve already gone through a low-calorie diet, chances are you have experienced this one, too.

It’s still not too late when it comes to keeping excess weight off. Why not delve more into HIIT to find out how you can make it work to your full advantage?

Focus and concentration are two things that you can’t do without in daily life. Whether you’re busy at work or perhaps setting your sights on completing a creative project, you are just in for a letdown sooner or later if you don’t have enough of these attributes.

See, the lack of concentration and focus is seen as a manifestation of weakening brain power, particularly in the overall mitochondrial function. Don’t let this issue get the best of you. Read on to find out how you can bring your focus and concentration levels at their peak again.

Protect your vision.

Sure this sounds surprising, but the state of your eyes can have a very big impact on your focus and concentration levels. You could find yourself easily getting distracted or sidetracked if your eyes need help.

Make it a point to keep your peepers as nourished as possible by loading up on essential nutrients like astaxanthin, zeaxanthin and lutein, which do not just help relieve oxidative stress on the eyes, but also reduce blurring and glaring while at it.

Setting a regular time during the day to avoid any unnecessary light exposure helps a lot as well.

This is because too much light can mess up your overall melatonin levels that can hurt the eyes and your sleeping rhythm. Apart from remembering to switch off indoor lights when you don’t need them, this also includes avoiding screen exposure from television sets, computers and mobile phones.

Maximize your email usage.

In this day and age when email is king in terms of communication, it is extremely important to choose which messages you’d like to prioritize and which ones you’re like to save for later. Allowing yourself to take care of all of them at once can be extremely overwhelming to your brain, which can lead to focus and concentration issues along the way.

You can either sort your emails depending on their level of importance or set up an automatic reply so the people you constantly connect with won’t feel that you are ignoring them.

Tailor your environment to suit your preferences.

Each of us has different preferences when it comes to choosing the environment that ignites our productivity, which also affects focus and concentration. You may be more suited to peace and quiet or perhaps a more dynamic setting. This also translates to your personal space like your desk or cubicle.

What’s really interesting is that you can experiment as you go along to find out what really works for you.

Give your brain a regular workout.

Make it a point to exercise your brain as regularly as possible. It could be in the form of jotting down ideas on a notepad, playing word games and puzzles as well as getting out of your seat and moving around and stretching for a bit every 15 minutes or so.

On the other hand, giving your brain enough rest in a regular basis is also imperative. Nothing beats getting a good night’s sleep if you’re aiming to boost your focus and concentration levels.

Boost your cognition with supplements.

With the significant amounts of medical technology at our disposal these days, it’s not that tough to get your hands on totally safe and legitimate supplements that can help improve a particular problem area. And yes, there are supplements that you can go for if you’re looking to boost your concentration and focus.

These supplements are choline, racetams, modafinil, vanilla (the real stuff, though) and Pyrroloquinoline Quinone (PQQ). Just make sure you consult your doctor first before using them to avoid any problems along the way.